What's your number one piece of money saving advice?

[SneakyGremlins]

Own brand is just as good 99% of the time, I've discovered. Still always trying to save though!

Oops, more than one there! Got carried away

Always keep bread in the freezer, or long life bread and milk in the cupboard, and if possible the ingredients for a simple meal, such as pasta & sauce or risotto. This will limit the need for emergency visits to the supermarket, which we all know cost about £20 a time!

Don’t buy water, use soap & washing powder, menu plan for 6 days a week - 7th day is for leftovers, best deals on utilities & insurance. Walk when you can.

I agree with pp don't buy coffee/ lunch whilst you're out, take it with you.
Go through all your big bills do some comparison see if you can get it cheaper
Excel is easy to use I've only been doing it for a few weeks but glad I have started. I use one that's for students but you can change all the words in them to suit your needs there's lots of preset templates that are easy to rewrite
If you use public transport invest in monthly or 6 monthly or annual tickets and save a fortune
Only use the dishwasher and the washing machine when they're full only use a tumble dryer if absolutely necessary put a dry towel in the same time to reduce the drying time
Shopping for groceries online means you can see your bill add up as you go and you're not tempted buy fancy offers for stuff that you wouldn't normally buy. If you get it delivered check out to see which is the cheapest time to get it delivered or see if the supermarket has a saver deal Tesco's have, it cost me about £3.50 a month to get as many deliveries as I want as long as it's on Tuesdays Wednesdays and Thursdays ( taxi fare would cost me about £5 each way evey time )

Stay in the EU.

So long as you are not getting into debt just living, put half of any pay rise into a savings account, to go out the day after pay day.
So, say you get a £20/month pay rise (take home value), set up a standing order to a savings account for £10/month. If you are lucky enough to get a £20/month rise the next year, increase the standing order to £20.

I meal plan and shop online. I also have a weekly budget/target for food which includes eating out and snacks.

Do a household budget. Doesn’t work at all unless you are thorough and honest. I combed through the bank statements when I set ours up so everything is included. Money saving expert has a very good budget spreadsheet if you don’t know excel.

Register with a cash back site and use it everytime you buy online

If you are sending gifts by post it can be cheaper to buy online and have it delivered directly.

If yo are not buying online for someone at a distance phone a shop local to them, pay by card and get it delivered or tell friend/relative where to pick up.

Check the best deal for insurance, electricity and gas every year.

Just stop spending unnecessarily - no coffee and snacks out, no treat spending unless planned or for birthdays etc. No toys every week or magazines for kids, plan meals and buy to list with few outside items

Lol woman

Buying all the kids’ stuff at a mum2mum market has saved us a fortune over the years. DC4 is our last child so we will soon be able to start selling soon too and getting some of the money back. In the UK they have sales all over. Www.mum2mummarket.co.uk

Don’t do a food shop until every last thing has gone in your cupboard, even if the last couple of days you have some very random combinations! If you do your food shop on a Monday, the next week try and do it on a Tuesday. Thus getting one extra day from your shop. On long car journeys, NEVER leave without snacks and a drink.

After bills. Food shop and fuel, put X, amount of cash in your purse and that's it fir the week, so incidentals can visibly decrease your money. £5.50 in a coffee shop seems nothing when you tap your card but if it turns a crisp ten pound note into a few coins that you'll spend on the car park and a newspaper you think twice. I always do this if I'm on an economy drive. Also with kids. If you really must have a treat while put then buy a 4 pack of doughnuts in a tesco express for £1and eat on a bench instead if one each at Greggs for £1 each

Oh and get better at saying no. Swimming, £12. Trampoline Park, £22. Cinema, £20-30.crazy golf, £12. All fun lovely things but you can easily rack up £££. Even the forest near us is £6 to park 😡. This week we've been rediscovering board games, the dolls house, nerf guns and lots of other toys shoved under the bed.

Save something by standing order every month into an account which is not that easy to get at. Even a very small amount
Do it even if you can't afford it and have to keep drawing it out. Try to forget it's there, that's your emergency fund, later your savings

Remember savings are income less expenditure. So you can make a difference by not spending as much as increasing income

And this thread has lots of great saving ideas!

For people who get a buzz from spending try to see savings as your "future spending" and transfer that buzz to saving.

Buy your clothes from car boot sales or charity shops. When you're done with them sell them on Ebay. Your wardrobe can make you money.

Swap to a cheaper supermarket, cook from scratch and meal plan.

Mobile phone contracts are very expensive, buy a phone outright and do a sim only plan.

Reduce tv packages.

Check your DD’s and standing orders, cancel anything unnecessary.

Plan for big expenses, school hols etc, as you will spend more on food and entertainment.

Avoid shopping as a leisure activity. If you're not there you won't spend.
Delete spams to avoid temptation.

Take your lunch, don't buy it.

My biggest saving has been swapping utility supplier, I've gone from Scottish power to Avro saving over 1k a year.

Oh i also shower at work to save my water bill and I cycle or walk to work (2 miles each way) rather than using bus or my car.

Moneysavingexpert - go to the website, read and act upon.

This covers a huge range of areas where you can both save money and increase your income.

It could take some time to really get to grips with but you don't have to do it all at once.

Do as much as you can at home:

Eat at home
Doyour own hair
Paint your own nails